29/10/2013 - 01/11/2013 @ Weekly Diaries

On 29/10/2013 my class was conducted by Lisa Short on Plant Propagation Unit in the morning. We work out in nursery.   In the morning  section monitored on the hardwood cuttings Juniper media blaauw plant was healthy but growth is too slow and no trace of rooting.  Thymus vulgaris cutting was also transferred to green house. Lemon Grass (Cymbopogon ciratus) seed still slow in growing. Origanum vulgare was not doing good because there are slightly trace of wilting and more leaves are dropping. 
Veronica "Emerald Green" hardwood cutting are healthier. All plants are free from pest and diseases.

Sugar snap drawf (Pisum sativum) has good growth and the plant creeping around with each other. 

Veronica topiaria was healthy and the growth is much faster in tubes and I pricked out and potted on 25 bigger tubes. Veronica topiaria are grown in many gardens and public areas; they attract butterflies. It cope with most soil types and can be propagated easily from both seed and cuttings. 

Later I slightly trimmed,  removed all the unwanted weeds and top some soil to the tubes of 

Corokia x virgata. This NZ native is a compact shrub covered in early summer with star shaped yellow flowers followed by orange berries in late summer. Corokia x virgata are fantastic as a hedging plant with dense easily trimmed foliage, tolerating coastal, exposed situations. Evergreen. Sun to semi-shade.  It is an ideal plant for low hedges or as a background shrub and looks equally good in native gardens as well as used in formal gardens where it can be trained into hedges. It needs full sun and is best in a dry situation. 

Apparently just tidy up the Geranium 'Orbit'  by removing all the dead leaves and leaves with nutrient deficiencies because they are too dense and separated all the one which are flowered tubes. Geranium 'Orbit' are among the most popular flowering plants. Outdoors, they are used as annual bedding plants, in hanging baskets, in pots and in window boxes. Indoors, they are cultured as houseplants in sunny locations.

On 29/10/2013 in the afternoon we had Turf Unit with Alan. First of all, we all know that for a lawn to be green it must be growing. Grass pales and turns yellow over time unless it's growing. Second, the key factor to keeping a growing lawn healthy is mowing it according to its growth. Therefore, if you get it growing quickly (fertilizer, lots of rain, etc) then you simply need to be mowing more often. The faster the growing, the more mowing is needed, but the greener the lawn.

There are a few other reasons that mowing as often as possible is the healthiest for your lawn:-

• Ever seen a golf course's lawn? They do use different types of grass than most residences, but the mowers are usually out every day. They cut a tiny bit at a time, and the grass always stays healthy. (Of course they are growing it quickly with lots of fertilizer and watering.)P
• Mulching is well known as a means to help improve the health of your lawn. The point of mulching is to turn what you clip into tiny shreds that simply fall back into the lawn. Many lawn mowers can do basic mulching if you remove the bag and apply a mulcher. Cutting more often gives you a higher chance of returning small pieces to your lawn, instead of long pieces which may not be good for your lawn.
• Another piece of advice I received from a lawn care centre was "Mulch twice, bag once." You won't want to be mulching long grass so you'll need to be mowing often to follow that schedule. 

On 31/10/2013 I had my Permaculture Unit with Kim Thomas. In the morning we watch a video on Jim Channons food forest garden. She was explaining what fruit trees and useful permaculture trees suit Dunedin's climate. Then, we went to Polygrow Nursery to plant all the seedlings from greenhouse to the spiral and planted them. We planted all the seedlings from various kind of soil such as compost, coconut coir, worm casting into the spiral and water them with liquid preparation with vermicast. At the end of session she distribute set of Edible and Useful Trees and Shrubs for Dunedin area by Jason Ross  which will be useful for the Assessment. 

On 31/10/2013 in the afternoon I had my Plant Identification Unit with Lisa Burton. First we had the Plant ID test on five climbers such as Clematis montana, Wisteria floribunda, Lonicera japonica, Hedera helix, Jasminum polyanthum.  

Once we finished the test we went to Botanical Garden to identify seven more plants such as Aesculus hippocastanum --- horse chestnut, Fagus sylvatica 'Purpurea' - copper beech, Boronia heterophylla - red boronia, Camellia japonica - 'Lulu Belle', Choisya ternata - 'Antec Pearl', Coleonema pulchrum 'Sunset Gold' and Rhododendron 'City of Dunedin'  for the next test on 7/10/2013. 

On 01/10/2013 I had my Revegetation Unit with Lisa Burton. She was discussing regarding the Assessment Question No 13. The action plan on plan for revegetation. Develop a plan for the management and rehabilitation of the Styles Creek site. The discussion of the following activities on goal setting, site preparation for planting, revegetation planting and maintenance. 

On 01/10/2013 in the afternoon I had my Vermiculture Unit with Kim Thomas. We had the Class Assessment No 5 out of 6. We were setting the hydroponic systems for planting of seedlings of sweet basil a delightful aromatic herb ideal for salads, pasta or pesto. It grow well indoors or in hot, sunny position and requires a well-fertilised soil. The other seedlings are tomato taupe which is a top commercial bumper crops of medium-large sized fruits. Its a exceptional disease tolerance and excellent vigour and ideally suited for glasshouses. We planted the seedlings with coconut coir and the three differences  types of fertilisers such as Thrive soluble fertiliser, Nitrosol Blood and Bone liquid fertilizer and Vermicompost.  



The Autopot system is the first commercially available hydroponic system that can be used for hydroponic growing without using any electricity. Designed to operate in places where power is either unreliable or just too costly to install. Using gravity as the energy source the Autopot system has the added bonus of being silent to operate. It has since proven to one of the most efficient hydroponic systems yet developed mainly because it's controlled by the plants themselves.

At the heart of the Autopot system is the aptly named smart valve, this allows the plants to feed when they need not when the timer or controller says. This makes for more efficient use of water and nutrient's as it will self regulate for changes in growth, fruiting or climate. All this is achived without using any electricty.